Fixing the past
by KkAdvantage
Summary: Collab I did with My friend and her OC. Atlantis and England have been at it since there relationship deteriorated. However, Philippines wanted them to stop there arguing, and formulated a plan to do so. Will it work?


England sat uncomfortably next to Atlantis after Philippines sat them down on her couch. He had no idea why Philippines wanted him to spend the night, but had already agreed before he knew that her beloved sister was also staying. Atlantis and he were just in a heated argument in the middle of the night, not really tired due to time differences, and were interrupted by a very tired, very angry Philippines.

"Guys, I don't know everything that happened between you two, but you can't keep that in the past where it belongs?" Philippines ranted.

"Like you're one to talk, Miss-I hate- America," England countered.

"Okay, firstly, that is way more recent than with what happened with you guys, and secondly, we're getting along, at least to the point where we're not bickering every teeny second of the day. Now, I invited you both here so we can at least start fixing whatever you guys broke."

"Hun, it's gonna take more than just a therapy session to fix this." Atlantis said.

"Oh, I never said this was a therapy session. Now, you both are my friends, some way closer than others, and I don't wanna be in the middle of your weird love-hate relationship," Philippines said. "Follow me."

Atlantis got up, with England following a bit more hesitantly. They followed the ASEAN nation through her house and abruptly stopped in front of door. "Phili, this is just a closet," Atlantis said as Philippines opened up the door to a seemingly small closet.

"You're absolutely correct," Philippines caught them off guard and shoved them in her closet, closing and locking the door from the outside. "See you in the morning! And I'm not a horse!" She yelled, her voice becoming more distant as she walked to a different part of the house.

Atlantis found the light switch and flipped it, then tried to get as comfortable as she could in the small space. England turned to look at her, and opened his mouth to say something.

"Don't." She cut him off without any hesitation. His mouth shut instantly, almost comedic in fashion. In her mind, Atlantis compared him to a fish gasping for air. She turned her head and closed her eyes, trying to envision herself anywhere but with him.

"Atlantis, Philippines didn't shove us in here so you could ignore me." England attempted to argue, leaning against the door. He was just as upset about the situation as she was, but at least he wasn't acting like a spoiled brat. The space was incredibly cramped; even with England against the door, Atlantis's feet were directly next to England's as she slid down into sitting position on the wall opposite of her worst enemy. She could easily reach her arms out and touch both the walls next to her and she knew there was no way they could both comfortably ride out the night ignoring one another.

"I can't believe she's going to leave is here until morning..." Atlantis breathed out. England scoffed in response and when Atlantis looked up she noticed that he was looking her directly in her eyes.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if you had just trusted me." England asserted.

"Yes, I'm going to trust you alone around my little sister, that makes plenty of sense." Atlantis scoffed in response. Her hands fluttered in the air, wringing out emotions she couldn't put forth through voice alone. England eyed her hands nervously, knowing just how much it would take before angrily moving her hands for emphasis would change to her hands around his throat for much more emphasis on how upset she was.

"You know, you can stop looking at me like I'm going to kill you any time now." Atlantis hissed, clearly upset at the worry in England's eyes.

"You promise?" He sneered in response and she just scoffed.

"What time even is it? I have to know just how much longer my sister intends to torture us."

"Do you want the time here or my internal clock?"

"Both, neither, whatever."

"It should be around one am, because my mind is saying that it is six in the evening."

"So what time do you think Phili will let us out?" Atlantis asked, lightly drilling her fingers in impatience.

"I'd say... Not until we fix 'this'." England placed quotes around 'this' with his fingers and rolled his eyes.

"Wow, you're so good with time, England. Thank you so much for your valuable input to this situation." Atlantis chirped before rolling her eyes and exhaling deeply.

"How about you actually attempt to help rather than complaining like a child?"

" _Rather than complain like a child blah blah._ Whatever. You act like I want to be here or fix this."

"Are you saying you don't wanna fix our..." England swallowed the word they'd both avoided.

"Yeah. I am saying so. We are perfectly fine and I don't know why people keep thinking otherwise." Atlantis scoffed, looking up to see the confusion in England's eyes.

"Atlantis, we are not _fine_. People shouldn't have to argue constantly."

"Then don't argue with me. Simple as that."

"I- That's no- At-" England stuttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, not as easy to take blame as you thought, now is it?" Atlantis hissed. She narrowed her eyes as his mouth formed itself into a thin line, "That's what I thought. And I always let you place the blame on me, so suck it up."

"I don't place the blame on you!" England raised his voice slightly, but in the cramped space it made a world of a difference.

"You sure about that? _Maybe if you weren't so childish, maybe if you trusted me, maybe if you didn't take everything so seriously"_ Atlantis impersonated England's tone in repetition of his defense after every argument, "That's all you ever do. Push the blame onto me."

"Then why do you take it? You argue about everything else, why didn't you mention it before this?"

"I don't care." Atlantis dismissed it with a sigh, waving her hand to leave the topic.

"Clearly you do." England sighed, rubbing his temples. "Would you dissect me if I were to squeeze onto the floor as well?"

"You're far too tall for that... I'd have to move."

"Well yes. Could you possibly do that for me?" Atlantis laughed, slapping her knee sarcastically and proceeded to not move in the slightest. England sighed loudly and forced himself onto the ground, pushing Atlantis's legs toward her.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Then turn so we can both fit and stop being so obstinate!"

"Stop trying to change me!"

"Then stop being so annoying!"

"Stop being such a jerk about everything!"

"Stop taking everything I say so seriously!"

"Then stop being so stuck up and serious all the time!"

The two yelled, neither actually listening as much as they were trying to land metaphorical hits on the other's pride. Slowly, Atlantis turned so they both sat parallel to the door, despite still being lightly pushed together.

Atlantis closed her eyes and England stared directly forward as they sat in silence.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes.

A half hour.

Fourty five minutes.

An hour and a half later, England finally broke the painful silence hovering over them both.

"If you're waiting for an apology, you're not going to get one."

"Well I don't want one, so that's perfectly fine." Atlantis huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and reopening her eyes. England looked ragged, an hour of running his hands through his hair out of boredom.

"Jesus Christ..." England huffed, pulling his legs towards him and laying his arm over them. Atlantis sighed again, using the now vacant space to lay her knee down as she looked her enemy over entirely. They'd been enemies for so long it was almost hard to remember a time when they didn't fight. And while Atlantis's horrid memory couldn't, England could sometimes.

"You know there are studies that say trust can be subconsciously created through prolonged physical closeness without either party even realizing it?" Atlantis said, filling the silence for a moment before turning the silence awkward, "That's probably Phili's intention. She just wants everyone to be nice to each other."

"Well, if I were looking at it, then it would call it a lost cause." England huffed, pressing his forehead into his knees and resting it there.

"Same here." They sat in the comfort of agreement for a few moments before it started to itch both of them. "Gosh, why is agreeing so awkward?"

"I have no idea..." England breathed out, feeling a headache set in the back of his head. "What do you think the chances are of Philippines being awake and willing to bring me something for this migraine?"

"Oh, here." Atlantis reached into her back pocket and fished out her ibuprofen baggie, quickly handing the man two. He downed them without water and nodded in thanks as she placed the bag back in its home.

"How'd you get that through customs?" England questioned a moments later, and Atlantis's face curved into a smile.

" _Oh gosh, I can't believe I forgot my note! I'm sorry sir, I have chronic migraines and I really need these. Please just let me keep them, they're the last I have."_ Atlantis repeated the act she pulled, feigning innocence to gain the upper hand on the man who checked her through customs. England chuckled, having seen what her innocence act work in person and not doubting it for a second. Atlantis was nothing if not a great actress- if by great actress you really meant a manipulative idiot who screwed with people for the small things, like getting unprescribed medication through customs.

"Its a shame they hire such incompetent people." England shook his head smiling, and Atlantis simply nodded in response.

"Ya know, I don't mind you when you're being quiet." Atlantis mentioned and England furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to retort before closing it again. "Yeah, like that." Atlantis confirmed, laughing to herself.

"I enjoy your company much more when you're unconscious, if we're being honest." Atlantis gasped in response to England's harsh words, placing her hand on her chest.

"I say quiet and you respond with unconscious. How rude of you."

"Well, you're both quiet and unobtrusive when asleep. My point still stands."

"And here I was, assuming we had made progress toward a never ending friendship." Atlantis responded. She was barely able to keep down the giggle trapped in her throat at the mention of them being in a friendship.

"Friendship is not how I would ever describe our..."

"Relationship. You can say it. There's no one here to make fun of you for it but me." England frowned as Atlantis finished his sentence for him. Relationship usually had a positive connotation with it and the two of them hadn't been on positive footing in a long time.

"Hey, you remember when we used to be friends?" Atlantis asked, gently nudging England's leg to bring his attention to her. He finally lifted his head from its resting spot and he saw Atlantis smiling at him.

"On the good days I remember." England responded, watching Atlantis's smile falter slightly.

"Come on. We ran through the woods, went on great adventures. It was amazing."

"Or so you've heard."

"Yeah. Or so I've heard. My brain's not the best, mister. Come on, we've got time to brutally murder, regale me with tale of little-kid-us being friends." Atlantis continued to push his leg every time she needed emphasis, until England stretched his legs forward again, lying them on top of Atlantis's knee. He thought back and the scene started playing before him as he told one of his favorite adventures.

"We were playing in the field with the tall grass one summer. Mother had just made us wooden boats and told us to go play outside," The scent of grass floated through both of their minds as they relived it together, "So we turned the grass into an ocean and crawled around on our knees so the grass was at eye level and held the ships on top of the grass so it looked like they were sailing."

"We were pirates." Atlantis laughed out, tiny drops of memory resurfacing slowly.

"Yes we were." England chuckled, "Captains Arthur Kirkland and Igneria Centre. Out to sail on the vast ocean. We would team up sometimes, but the first time we were bitter enemies. Sworn to destroy the other Captain if it cost us our ships or our lives."

"You threw pebbles at me!"

"They were cannonballs, have some imagination." Little-Atlantis's shrill voice rang through England's mind, " _Ow, Arthur! You hit me with one!"_ He was about to apologize and see if she was okay, but was quickly distracted as she laughed and threw one right back.

"Our aim was horrid, so it was very rare that one of them even hit the ships, so it didn't take long before you practically tackled me to the ground. By the time we came home it was sunset and we were both riddled with bruises. Our mothers were worried sick."

" _Atty dearie, you can't roughhouse like that, it worries me._ " England's mother's voice reverbed through both of their minds, still soft and sweet, followed by the harshness of Atlantis's mother, " _How could you both do this to us? We had no idea where you'd gone, and you come back looking like that!"_

"Man... Mom hated our adventures." Atlantis sighed with a smile.

"Mother had no problem with them as long as we didn't get hurt out of her sight. Even that was your mother's fault, for getting upset if Mother couldn't explain something away." England responded.

"We both got really good at explaining things, though."

"At least I did so truthfully."

"Hey, did you wanna explain to your mom that your shirt was pink because we tried to climb barbed wire and you hurt yourself?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Exactly. The tomato story was for the best."

"Its nice to hear that you remember some of it." England laughed, remembering how stupid the story Atlantis told his mother was.

"Its all in here, Arthur. There's just so much time that its hard to keep it all organized, and it gets hard to find some stuff. Its easier when you're telling me."

"Trying to get rid of your memories probably didn't help, either."

"Ugh, don't remind me. If I could go back in time and convince myself not to screw up my brain, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Stupid Americans and their bs psychology." Atlantis groaned, facepalming at her stupid decisions. England laughed as he watched her beat herself up with a smile.

"Why did we even stop being friends?" Atlantis asked after a moment. It fell silent as they both wracked their brains for some memory. It just seemed like one day they were inseperable and the very next they couldn't stop screaming.

"Probably when Mother died and I had to leave. Then the next time we saw each other, you slapped me and left. And the time after that, you flipped my chair, screamed curses at me and left with that idiot you call a b-" England stopped himself short.

"Wow. Bitter much?"

"About what?"

"Never mind. You know, all of those events were completely different from my view."

"How? They seemed pretty straightforward to me." England leaned away from the wall, stretching his back.

"Well, I didn't hear about your mother dying until a week after you basically disappeared without a word. With my Mom being d- gone as well, my brother wasn't any help. I was torn. And then the next time I saw you, you had just murdered my best friend. I don't know what happened to your filter to make it so... posh but it was like you weren't even the same person who was my friend anymore. Did you even listen to what I said, or do you just pretend you did?" Atlantis said, the back of her throat clogged with emotion she tried to swallow.

"I was on the floor in shock. All I saw was you screaming at me."

"I was crying. I flipped your chair to get your attention, to get you riled up enough to drop whoever this new person claiming to be you was. I yelled about wanting my friend back. I didn't leave with France; he practically dragged me away from you." Atlantis explained, her eyes fogging up as tears pained her eyes. As she squeezed out the last word, her voice broke and she started crying, sobs wracking her whole body as England sat in shock.

"Atlantis... I'm so..." England couldn't find any words to make it better. He moved forward onto his knees so he was directly in front of the sobbing girl. Atlantis had curled into herself, trying to stop the tears moving down her face.

"Sorry won't help, but I am sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our friendship. I thought you were dead. I did horrible things and changed who I am as a person. I'm so sorry that hurt you." England whispered, laying a hand on Atlantis's shaking shoulder, "I never meant to hurt you, Igneria."

It took a while, but eventually Atlantis's sobs turned into tiny hiccups. England had moved to where they were sitting side by side and pulled Atlantis's head onto his shoulder.

"Are you okay, love?" He whispered gently nudging her face up to meet his eyes. Her eyes were much clearer, but also much more sad.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall apart like that. I usually save that kind of stuff for France, ya know?" Atlantis whispered back, sighing as she turned her head back so her face was on his shirt, "I lost track of what time it is. Dang." She said before yawning.

"Its fine, it doesn't really matter." England responded, leaning his head on top of Atlantis's. "Are you tired?"

"Having an emotional breakdown takes a lot out of a girl. You mind?"

"Of course not, love. Go to sleep. I'll be here and will wake you up when Philippines comes to retrieve us." England reassured.

"Will you tell me a story of when we were little again?" Atlantis asked, sounding so small England was scared the strongest girl he knew would shatter next to him.

"No problem. You want to hear about when we got lost in the woods?"

"Please." She asked,and Atlantis smiled, letting her mind flow off into sleep as England watched over her and thought, speaking softly about various woodland adventures they'd had.

He didn't mean to hurt the girl he thought was dead. He became a pirate like he'd always dreamed then he settled down and became a respectable country lie his mother would have wanted. Somewhere along there his best friend became the girlfriend of his worst enemy and hated him. Despite all the thoughts he had, he couldn't quite piece together where their friendship went awry.

"Hey. Hey, wake up." England awoke to the sound of Philippines voice. She poked him one more time to make sure he was awake.

"What?" He grumbled.

"I moved Neri to an actual bed. You're really heavy."

"What time is it?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and getting up.

"Here? Because it's 8:00am here. It's like one in your place." Philippines started leading him to another room.

"Well I might as well stay up." He sat down on a couch in her living room. She sat across from him, tightening her robe from the morning chill.

"Sorry for locking you in a closet." She apologized as she sat down.

"Eh, pay no mind love. You did what you thought was right."

Phili smiled. "So, how'd it go?"

"Uhm, we... Definitely bonded." He said, unsure of how to put what had happened last night into words.

"Will Neri be okay? She looked... Not normal when I dragged her to bed."

"Probably because you dragged her."

"Iggy, I'm serious."

"I don't know, she'll tell you if there's a problem."

"No she won't, and you know it. Especially because she's supposed to be big sister Neri. It worries me when she pretends she's strong."

England looked at the solemn face she made, actually feeling bad for her. She would never understand the years of torment Atty had gone through, and hell, neither would he. But she had her own torment, getting tossed about from place to place all the time. "Philippines, you have to remember. We all always act strong, act tough in the face of danger, act brave when we think others are watching, feign courage when we feel like we have no choice. And we do it to not only protect those we love, but to protect ourselves. Atty may not be as tough as she lets on, but she is one of the strongest people I know. And you may not think it, but your shaping up to be a powerful country."

"You really think so?"

"Well, you have North America and Europe always wanting to take care of you."

Philippines smiled. Then she jumped. "Oh yeah, you guys getting along isn't the only reason your here! To the basement!"

England rolled his eyes and followed her as she bounced down the stairs, nearly falling over if he hadn't caught her by the collar. "Tada~" she sang. It looked much like his basement, with all the magic books he had given her, a cauldron, shelves and shelves of questionable ingredients, and a giant circle in the middle of the room. "Now I can stop hanging around your house when I wanna practice."

"And stop blowing up my basement." Philippines stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey guys." Atlantis yawned. "I woke up and I was in a bed."

"Morning Neri!" Philippines hugged her and smiled.

"Morning Sasa. Morning Iggy." She yawned again, having the air taken out of her as Philippines suddenly squeezed her tighter. "What?"

"You said Morning to Iggy without an insult, something really did happen!"

"Don't kill the girl!" England panicked.

"And Iggy doesn't want you dead! This is a great day of progress. I'm gonna go tell China."

"Not so fast, Phili." England stopped her. "You made us try to be all buddy buddy. I think America is free today."

"He's free everyday."

"That's not what I meant."

"But we're friends."

"You're countries are friends, but you two personally have some issues. You can't fix others problems without fixing your own. That's being a hypocrite." Atlantis butted in.

"I'd rather be a hypocrite."

"Sasa."

"Fine. But as long as you guys are happy. I love you guys, and I want to always be friends."

The two other countries smiled at her. England looked to Atlantis.

"Even when it doesn't seem like it, we'll always be friends."


End file.
